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kaypat23 's review for:
The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls
by Claire Legrand
Real rating: 2.8/5
If you've ever read Coraline before, you'd know that there are are WAY too many similarities between that book and this book to ignore. The whole way, I was like... (￢_￢;)
Let's get one thing straight. Coraline is a masterpiece of delicate horror for children and adults and is one of my favourite books of all time.
It is iconic. Just the right amount of creepy and clever and UNIQUE. Neil Gaiman took that torch and ran with it, bringing us deeper and darker into his Other World without trying too hard. We just ended up there, all lost and scared and eager to lap up the incredible movie that followed the novel afterwards. I strongly suggest that if you truly wanted the experience that this book tried and failed to elicit, you should read Coraline instead. Heavens know I still want to dress up as her for Halloween.
THIS BOOK IS NOT CORALINE.
THIS BOOK made me go:
It was so obvious that the author was definitely inspired by Coraline and the Other Mother because I found myself sighing the whole way reading the damn thing. Sure, it was creepy in some parts but most of it felt like a pale shadow of what I've already known. The bootleg version of my favourite movie, if you will. I wasn't impressed with the main heroine. The only reason I probably kept reading was because of Lawrence, our music boy version of Wybie from the Coraline movie. I wanted him to get out of the House at least. Victoria could rot there for all I cared.
A list of things you'll find in this book:
1. Lots of bugs. And a creepyOther Mother sorry, OWNER of a children's home called Mrs. Cavendish! She also happens to have lots of bugs crawling all over her and she's a bug too! She also has a gardener named Mr Alice who worships her because she made him...and she lives in a creepy house that breathes, moves and changes all the time. She's also very fond of puppets and spies on people using bugs!
HMMMM WHERE HAVE I READ THAT BEFORE, I WONDER?
Honestly, if you wanted to copy something, you could have at least not taken everything from the main source? I literally had to highlight several parts that sounded directly from Coraline such as the hallway between fireplaces that felt like a living throat, spirits whispering, cold winds and creepy bird hybrids that try to eat children (」°ロ°)」
2. Victoria Wright, the main protagonist. She's very unlikeable and she doesn't give a shit if you don't like her. Honestly, IDK if she's even normal because I found her irritable, angry, neurotic, perfectionist personality to be really annoying and high-strung. I like that she isn't afraid to ask questions and challenge others but this book does such an awful job handling her personality. She is constantly obsessed with being the leader, the top of the class. Her catchprases include "That's illegal" and "I guess xxx was never top of the class before". The Beldam (just gonna call her that from now coz that's obviously her) calls Victoria a threat but how tho? Girl can't even handle getting a B in her music report card. SMH.
3. Cannibalism! But you see it coming a mile away and it's such a cheap trick that I was like, "bruh. Even I could have seen what the kids were eating in their meals"
4. Children getting turned into Mike Wazowski if they misbehave
5. Cheap plot twist at the end where you will most likely uncover the villain's ending and her true form before you read it
6. No history whatsoever about the threat. NONE. We don't know why Mrs. Cavendish exists other than to make children "perfect" and abuse them I guess? She has no motive and no personality other than that. It's a hilarious caricature because you can't expect me to just think an immortal being with the ability to manipulate the minds of others with magic puppets and embed people's souls into trees is interested in making children burp less and become less fat??? Like, WTF. Coraline's Other Mother had a real motivation and a semblance of a backstory and that made her terrifying. She wanted something to "love and to eat". Mrs. Cavendish...apparently just wants to create perfect children?
7. Magic trees and humming save the day. Not kidding.
8. "Your parents don't care about you!" "Put her in the hangar!" "Children are to be seen not heard!"
9. Victoria insisting over and over that "this is not real! This house surely can't be moving around magically!" Like, girl, you trapped with the Beldam. This is obviously no ordinary house and you're still too stubborn or dumb to get that??
10. Really weak friendships that just appeared out of nowhere to make Victoria seem like she's "growing! And making new friends who can help her become less cold!" Yeah, she legit made fun of the same people in the first few chapters tho.
11. Lots of creepy smiles but it's not even creepy because it's overused and overdone.
I can imagine Claire Legrand pitching this story to her editors like:
Claire: Okay, guys. I just watched the movie Coraline and I wondered...what if I write a book where...WYBIE is the one abducted and even though Coraline thinks he's annoying, she goes after him and she saves him and they end up having a cute relationship when they grow up six years later?
Editors: Okay, cool. But you gotta change the names and the settings tho.
Claire: *reveals orphanage layout plan that makes no fucking sense* no problem. Also, the MC has to be really backhanded with her compliments but she's also super smart and different and the Other Mother is scared of her!
Editors: We might get copyrighted if you use that name for the villain. You got any other names?
Claire: *looks at cavendish banana in fruit bowl* Y-e-a-h
My verdict: The story tried to be a scary cool banana split but it split in the middle. (눈_눈)
Do yourself a favour and get Coraline instead of this. Malaysians, remember that we should get the gold disc and not the purple disc, DVD R! Get your kid to read Coraline if they pester you for scary stories because it'll scare them to death and they'll love it. Thanks!
If you've ever read Coraline before, you'd know that there are are WAY too many similarities between that book and this book to ignore. The whole way, I was like... (￢_￢;)
Let's get one thing straight. Coraline is a masterpiece of delicate horror for children and adults and is one of my favourite books of all time.
It is iconic. Just the right amount of creepy and clever and UNIQUE. Neil Gaiman took that torch and ran with it, bringing us deeper and darker into his Other World without trying too hard. We just ended up there, all lost and scared and eager to lap up the incredible movie that followed the novel afterwards. I strongly suggest that if you truly wanted the experience that this book tried and failed to elicit, you should read Coraline instead. Heavens know I still want to dress up as her for Halloween.
THIS BOOK IS NOT CORALINE.
THIS BOOK made me go:
It was so obvious that the author was definitely inspired by Coraline and the Other Mother because I found myself sighing the whole way reading the damn thing. Sure, it was creepy in some parts but most of it felt like a pale shadow of what I've already known. The bootleg version of my favourite movie, if you will. I wasn't impressed with the main heroine. The only reason I probably kept reading was because of Lawrence, our music boy version of Wybie from the Coraline movie. I wanted him to get out of the House at least. Victoria could rot there for all I cared.
A list of things you'll find in this book:
1. Lots of bugs. And a creepy
HMMMM WHERE HAVE I READ THAT BEFORE, I WONDER?
Honestly, if you wanted to copy something, you could have at least not taken everything from the main source? I literally had to highlight several parts that sounded directly from Coraline such as the hallway between fireplaces that felt like a living throat, spirits whispering, cold winds and creepy bird hybrids that try to eat children (」°ロ°)」
2. Victoria Wright, the main protagonist. She's very unlikeable and she doesn't give a shit if you don't like her. Honestly, IDK if she's even normal because I found her irritable, angry, neurotic, perfectionist personality to be really annoying and high-strung. I like that she isn't afraid to ask questions and challenge others but this book does such an awful job handling her personality. She is constantly obsessed with being the leader, the top of the class. Her catchprases include "That's illegal" and "I guess xxx was never top of the class before". The Beldam (just gonna call her that from now coz that's obviously her) calls Victoria a threat but how tho? Girl can't even handle getting a B in her music report card. SMH.
3. Cannibalism! But you see it coming a mile away and it's such a cheap trick that I was like, "bruh. Even I could have seen what the kids were eating in their meals"
4. Children getting turned into Mike Wazowski if they misbehave
5. Cheap plot twist at the end where you will most likely uncover the villain's ending and her true form before you read it
6. No history whatsoever about the threat. NONE. We don't know why Mrs. Cavendish exists other than to make children "perfect" and abuse them I guess? She has no motive and no personality other than that. It's a hilarious caricature because you can't expect me to just think an immortal being with the ability to manipulate the minds of others with magic puppets and embed people's souls into trees is interested in making children burp less and become less fat??? Like, WTF. Coraline's Other Mother had a real motivation and a semblance of a backstory and that made her terrifying. She wanted something to "love and to eat". Mrs. Cavendish...apparently just wants to create perfect children?
7. Magic trees and humming save the day. Not kidding.
8. "Your parents don't care about you!" "Put her in the hangar!" "Children are to be seen not heard!"
9. Victoria insisting over and over that "this is not real! This house surely can't be moving around magically!" Like, girl, you trapped with the Beldam. This is obviously no ordinary house and you're still too stubborn or dumb to get that??
10. Really weak friendships that just appeared out of nowhere to make Victoria seem like she's "growing! And making new friends who can help her become less cold!" Yeah, she legit made fun of the same people in the first few chapters tho.
11. Lots of creepy smiles but it's not even creepy because it's overused and overdone.
I can imagine Claire Legrand pitching this story to her editors like:
Claire: Okay, guys. I just watched the movie Coraline and I wondered...what if I write a book where...WYBIE is the one abducted and even though Coraline thinks he's annoying, she goes after him and she saves him and they end up having a cute relationship when they grow up six years later?
Editors: Okay, cool. But you gotta change the names and the settings tho.
Claire: *reveals orphanage layout plan that makes no fucking sense* no problem. Also, the MC has to be really backhanded with her compliments but she's also super smart and different and the Other Mother is scared of her!
Editors: We might get copyrighted if you use that name for the villain. You got any other names?
Claire: *looks at cavendish banana in fruit bowl* Y-e-a-h
My verdict: The story tried to be a scary cool banana split but it split in the middle. (눈_눈)
Do yourself a favour and get Coraline instead of this. Malaysians, remember that we should get the gold disc and not the purple disc, DVD R! Get your kid to read Coraline if they pester you for scary stories because it'll scare them to death and they'll love it. Thanks!